Lockdown Ramblings/2021 Life Update

Hey, it’s me again…

charlotterick.com has always primarily been a travel blog, and blogging about travelling hasn’t exactly been an easy thing to do this last year! I’m sitting here in lockdown 3.0, unsure when I’ll be able to go for a drink with my friends again, let alone step on a plane.

I feel on the whole I’ve managed to stay fairly optimistic throughout the lockdowns, or at least I’ve tried to be. Sure, I’ve had days where I’ve felt hopeless, but as someone who isn’t usually the most optimistic, I’ve surprised myself with how I’ve been feeling. I’ve remained with the ‘this shall pass’ attitude, and although I hate this feeling of wasted time, there’s nothing I can do about it so that’s that. I’ve kinda learnt to just accept it for now – things can only get better so I’ll live my little routine until that day.  I’m lucky enough to have not had covid yet (to my knowledge) despite most of my family all testing positive over Christmas. No one was too poorly, so we seem to have gotten off lightly!

As someone who travels often, this last year has been very odd. When something is such a big part of who you are, it’s hard when that is suddenly gone. This can be anything, whether it’s a job role, a sport.. For me, it’s been travelling. Exploring, adventuring, seeing new places. I’m so lucky to have lived the life I have and been able to travel so much over the last few years, and I’ll never take for granted the ability to jump on a last minute flight! In December 2019 we moved to France for two and a half months for our ski season – living in France was the longest we’d spent in the same country for over a year! We left our season early, spent a month in Bali before rushing back to the UK due to Covid and arriving the day the country went into lockdown. To think that was almost a year ago, is crazy.

I’m not sure whether the last year has gone really slow, or really fast. It seems like forever ago that we went into the first lockdown, but then thinking about what we’ve actually done this last year… It seems like it was ‘just the other day’. We moved to Brighton in September last year, and it feels like we’ve barely been here five minutes – yet we’re coming up to being here for six months. 

I’ve found myself picking up lots of different hobbies and ways to spend time. None of them have really stuck, but it’s been a good distraction. I’ve worked the entire time – running our own business has been very stressful due to the pandemic, but we’ve managed to survive and grow (just)! I can’t help but sometimes feel envious of people on furlough – I feel like I’ve barely stopped, but then there doesn’t seem to be any point to trying to take time off when we can’t actually go anywhere! But I’m also grateful that I’ve had routine and something to do each day, as I think without that I wouldn’t have been able to stay as optimistic as I have. I’ve also been trying to take more photos – even if most of them are of the amazing view from my flat!

The one thing I’ve definitely neglected though, is my blog. I do a lot of copywriting in my work day, so the thought of then spending my evening doing the same thing just has not appealed to me. As soon as I can I am shutting the lid of my laptop and not opening it until begrudgingly the next morning at 8.55am over a big cup of coffee. I’ve not felt very motivated or inspired to blog – how do you run a travel blog when you’re unable to travel? I’ve got old photos, old half finished posts in my drafts.. But I’m too bitter to even go through and try and finish them, as it’ll make me ache to be in those places again.
** I’d like to quickly note here that I know this is not a big issue compared to everything that is going on in the world, but I’m just writing my own feelings down, not saying they’re important! 

I never thought I’d miss the stress of going through security, the flights where you get no sleep at all and feel like you go delirious. Being sunburnt – or having sunstroke.. The aches and pains of my entire body after a day skiing, or being covered in mosquito bites! But I really, really do.

I’d love to feel the hot air hit me as I step off a plane in a warm country… Or the chill on your cheeks when you get off the lift at the top of a mountain. Those nights spent in random bars drinking ridiculously cheap asian beers, or the afternoons spent dancing on tables at apres drinking ridiculously expensive beers. I miss being able to jump on the back of a motorbike and go anywhere, or walk around a city for hours and hours with no plan but to just see it. Meeting new people, eating new foods, bartering with locals at markets for the sake of £1! I can’t wait until we have all these things back, and until then I’ll keep myself occupied with the occasional reminiscent scroll of my camera roll. This world seems forever away right now, and I’m ok with that, if that’s how it’s got to be for it to return. I’m happy to spend more time trying to cook new meals and binge watching tv if it means that one day soon I’ll be able to go to the pub with my friends, let alone go back to my life of exploring new places.

I’ve tried to use this time to be a bit healthier – I’ve started running, eating better and doing daily workouts. So rather than just neglect my blog due to lack of travel, I think it may just evolve a bit. I love writing, and I want to do more of it (out of work). I think it’s important to try and stay as occupied as possible and do what we enjoy if we’re able to from home. I’m gonna try and get into a routine of writing more, and about anything that comes to mind – whether it’s recipes, thought pieces, photo diaries… I think now isn’t the time for me to try and restrict what I write about, and to just write about whatever I want! If I feel inspired I definitely shouldn’t stop that feeling! 

So thank you for listening to my raaaandom ramblings! There’s no point to this post, I just felt like putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and getting my thoughts out. I hope to be doing it a lot more often! 

Char xx